On 7 September 2022 REHVA organised a workshop at Sustainable Places in Nice (France) on "Measuring Building Performance and Operational Rating". During this workshop expert keynote speakers Shane Donatello (Joint Research Center - European Commission), Judit Kimpian (Architect Council of Europe) and Marleen Spiekman (TNO) presented from different perspectives how the energy performance gap can be tackled at EU-level and the crucial role of Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) in this area. This was followed by presentations of 14 Horizon 2020/Europe projects - including the NextGen EPC Cluster - that are working on innovative solutions on this topic.
Against the backdrop of the ongoing EPBD revision at EU level involving also the EU’s Member States which will then further transpose, implement and monitor the new EPBD in their countries, the members of the Next Gen EPCerts H2020 cluster joined forces with FRESCO, BEYOND and MODERATE projects and brought together a few guest speakers to set the scene on the topic of measuring building performance and adding operational rating to the already commonly used asset rating in the EPBD related Energy Performance Assessment and Certification Schemes.
Energy performance certificates (EPCs) are becoming the centre piece of the EPBD being linked to all the other policy instruments (e.g. SRI, Digital Building Logbooks, Renovation Roadmaps & Passports, Level(s)…) and soon to be used as reference for financing building performance activities. Thus, they withhold the highest potential to ensure an EPB coherence framework for all instruments to flawlessly work together.
Considering that it’s now our last chance to really make a difference in the buildings sector we need to increasingly consider measuring building performance and adding operational rating to guarantee building actually perform as intended in operation. There isn’t yet a single acknowledged way in doing this and if we’re to be effective in achieving the EU’s climate and energy goals and fully leverage the digitalization of the built environment in the process there should be at least an overall framework to be followed as guideline.
The main goal of this workshop was to ensure an open co-creation process maximizing quality, relevance, utility and effectiveness while avoiding reinventing the wheel and ensuring a coordinated and convergent approach. Such an approach would greatly support the digital transformation of the EU’s building stock which in turn will enable and facilitate to arrive by 2050 at healthy, safe, efficient, flexible and zero-emission buildings for the people.
The main outcome of the workshop leveraged to the benefit of EU’s climate and energy goals the ongoing coordination, support and innovation actions in the next steps of the EPBD’s revision and it’s subsequent transposition, implementation and monitoring and the way the package of policy instruments is meaningfully weaved together.
Download the slidedeck here (15 MB)
Session chair: Andrei Vladimir Litiu – REHVA (Federation of European Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning Associations)
Key note expert speakers:
- Shane Donatello (Joint Research Center - European Commission) - Relationships between EPCs, NZEBs and key EU policies
- Judit Kimpian (Architect Council of Europe)
- Marleen Spiekman (TNO) - Operational Rating: From Theory to Practice
Related Project:
NextGenEPC Projects :
1st Generation 2019
2nd Generation 2020
3rd Generation 2021